Writer Mike Carey and Editor Andy...

You thrilled to HOUSE OF M. You chilled to DECIMATION. You're a faithful, yet frantic, fan of Marvel's merry mutants and still you have burning questions.

X-MEN ANNUAL #1 is for you.

Some of your most favorite mutants have questions, too, and they're willing to go to ANY length to uncover the answers…even if it means invading the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier. The mutant twins, Northstar and Aurora, are not in their right minds after the aforementioned cataclysmic events of M-Day and ultra fan-fave Rogue leads her team in a desperate attempt to set things right for them.

It goes without saying that the X-Men have the most evil of enemies, and in X-MEN ANNUAL #1 one of their most deadly vessels rushes to blockade our pugnacious southern belle. See, this antagonist from out of the past has schemes and dreams of his own, and their impact shatters the scene with a mind-boggling revelation.

It's being called "a big book, with major repercussions for all the X-books this year." The House of Ideas is dropping some serious eggs into one awesome basket, and writer Mike Carey, nor editor Andy Schmidt take that lightly.

Your friends at Marvel.com lassoed Carey and Schmidt, both still reeling from the gorgeous Mark Brooks art that explodes off the page, into giving us their cases for why X-Men Annual #1 is a must-read.

Mike Carey's Five Reasons Why You MUST Read X-MEN ANNUAL #1:
1. "You think you know everything there is to know about the Scarlet Witch's 'no more mutants' edict--but you don't. And you won't get the full picture unless you buy this book."
2. "The Beaubier twins--Northstar and Aurora--together again. And what BRINGS them together is really bizarre."
3. "Big fight onboard the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrrier. You may never get to start one, but that's all the more reason you want to watch one, right?"
4. "Mark Brooks drawing Rogue again!"
5. "The guy who shows up on the last page. I'll say no more."

Andy Schmidt's Five Reasons Why You MUST Read X-MEN ANNUAL #1:
1. "It's a double-sized extravaganza!"
2. "Northstar and Aurora are back--for real!"
3. "The return of some old enemies! The Acolytes! Exodus! Random! Cool stuff!"
4. "Mark Brooks' artwork is awesome!"
5. "This is the jumping-on point for this year's biggest X-MEN story line
in years!"

So, to re-cap: mutants, Rogue, twins, mutants, S.H.I.E.L.D., fights, mutants, bad guy, revelation, mutants, Mike Carey and Mark Brooks, and, oh yeah, mutants! "In terms of the team dynamic," adds Carey. "This is very much a Rogue/Mystique story with Cable along in a supporting role."

"And as suggested above, it foregrounds Northstar and Aurora, too, with something truly happening to them and to the bond they share as super-powered twins."

The next phase in the grand X-saga kicks off in X-MEN ANNUAL #1, True Believers, with a story so big they had to make it an Annual. When we say you can't miss this, we ain't just whistling Dixie! You can snatch one up at your favorite comic shop on January 31st.